The Wedding Date
by kdzl
Summary: David Rossi is getting married...again. Will there be love brewing between two other members of the team? JJ/Hotch Oneshot


**_AN/I tried to do this idea justice, but it was difficult. I'd really like to know what you think--good or bad, especially if you have suggestions on how I could have done it better. :)_**

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_"I don't believe an accident of birth makes people sisters or brothers. It makes them siblings, gives them mutuality of parentage. Sisterhood and brotherhood are a condition people have to work at."_

_~ Maya Angelou_

"To the bride and groom." The toast from the maid-of-honor said, raising her glass in the air. As the reception guests followed suit, Aaron Hotchner couldn't help but doubt that the marriage would last. He knew Dave well enough to know that marriage number four would not end any better than the other three. Rossi and his new bride, Julie, had only been dating for a few months when Rossi had proposed to her. The short courtship and the nearly thirty year age difference made Hotch very skeptical of Julie's true intentions, to him it seemed like she was just chasing a hefty alimony from a rich ex-husband. But then, Rossi seemed happy, and happiness in their line of work was so very hard to come by, Hotch himself was far from it; so Hotch vowed to control his cynicism, if only for one night. He glanced over to his date, a woman named Shelly that Emily had insisted to let her set him up with. Emily was doing a lot of that these days, trying to set him up with any available woman she knew.

Shelly looked up at him, he could see the tears swelling up in her eyes. _Another girl who cries at weddings, _he smirked to himself, as all of Emily's friends were the emotional type. Of the six weddings Hotch had attended over the year, Emily's friends accounted for the dates to all of them, each drastically different while tragically the same--none of them were JJ.

Hotch was luckier this time than it had in the past. Shelly was attractive, smart, and fun to be around--but she unfortunately held no interest for the stoic unit chief. Thankfully, Dave had arranged for all of them to sit together at one large round table for twelve. He glanced over to watch his team--Morgan was at the open bar, trying to woo a very drunken, desperate bridesmaid--and by the looks of it, he was succeeding. Emily and her new boyfriend were chatting intently, completely oblivious to the world around them. Garcia and Kevin Lynch had run off to be somewhere more private, presumably a place where they would not be interrupted. Even Reid had managed to scrounge up a date--though according to Emily they had been seeing each other since just after their last case in southern California. Hotch was pleased to see that the girl seemed just as taken with Reid as he was with her. And JJ was no where to be found, which upset Hotch a little, but decided that maybe it was for the best that he didn't have to watch her flirt with some guy.

He had endured the months of JJ's relationship with Will fairly well, but that was before he was in love with her. After JJ and Will's very messy breakup, he had spent more time with her than he spent alone; ordering take out when they were working late, going out for drinks after long cases, helping her with the repairs that her home needed but she couldn't do herself...Hotch had quickly fallen even deeper in love with JJ. When he had received his invitation to Rossi's wedding, it seemed like the perfect chance to tell JJ about his growing feelings. He vowed that he would finally get the courage to ask the blonde media liaison out on a date. It took him weeks, waiting for the perfect moment. It had finally come when she was standing alone at the coffee maker.

_"Hey JJ." Hotch said, coming up from behind her. _

_"Oh, Hi Hotch." She responded with a smile. He always loved it when she smiled, but she hadn't been doing it much since she and Will had called off their short engagement a few months earlier._

_"So, How's Henry?" Hotch asked lamely, looking for any oppurtunity to keep the conversation rolling._

_"He is really good, he is staying at my sister's in Maine this week. She says he is loving it up there, but I think I heard him screaming in the background last time I called." JJ laughed lightly, loving any opportunity to talk about Henry. No one in the bureau had been safe from JJ's adoration when Henry had said his first word, and Hotch had a feeling, that with potty training just around the corner for Henry, they would be getting inundated with more of JJ's stories about the baby boy._

_"Jack always loved Maine when we used to go up, but then again, Jack loves snow." He mused, glad that he could always talk about his son with JJ._

_"I think Henry takes after me, I hate the snow... Actually, I hate all things cold." JJ said, wrinkiling her nose. Hotch always loved when she did this, he thought it was too cute to be her sign of disgust. The conversation then took an awkward lull, one in which Hotch interrupted by asking the question that had been on his mind._

_"Hey...uh...Dave's wedding is in a couple of weeks, and I was wondering if you wanted to go...as friends." Hotch mumbled out, adding the last part to cushion the blow if she said no._

_"Hotch, I really wish I could...But I am already going with someone." JJ responded, her face falling, "I really wish I could."_

_Hotch easily covered his disappointment, after all, he had been doing it for years. "That's fine. I was just trying to avoid another set up from Emily, but maybe this one will be better." _

_"Well, it can't be as bad as the girl who asked why you didn't want to marry her with in the first thirty minutes." JJ comforted, laughing a little at the memory of the woman._

_"Sometimes I don't know where Emily finds these women, or why she would think it would be a good idea to set them up with me." Hotch joked._

_"Maybe it is the formal hand-to-hand combat training you have, or the fact your a good shot. She must know you can protect yourself." JJ said reassuringly._

_"I can't hit a girl who isn't an unsub. My mother would come back to life just to kill me." Hotch laughed, as he turned to walk away._

As soon as that was over he walked over to Prentiss, to ask her to find him a date. She gladly agreed, giving him the number of one of her single friends, making him promise that he would call Shelly that night. When he did, he was pleased to hear the calmness in Shelly's voice, not all the girls that Emily set him up with were that way. She agreed to go with him, and while it was not a love connection, Aaron found that he was surprisingly enjoying himself. Shelly was easily someone he could be friends with. Hearing the announcement that the dancing would begin, he turned to Shelly.

"Do you want to dance?" He asked chivilariously, when she nodded her head, he got up and pulled her chair out. Hotch had promised himself that no matter who JJ showed up with, he would still be a gentleman to his date. As he lead her to the dance floor, he could not help but notice the cornsilk hair that he loved so much at another table. Promising himself that he would size up JJ's date as soon as the song was over.

Hotch stopped at a prime dancing spot, putting his hand on her waist and grabbing one of her hands, leading her on the dance floor. While it would shock many of his coworkers to know this, Hotch had always been a good dancer, as they glided and made small talk. They talked about her job as a kindergarten teacher, joking about the woes of being government employees. The song passed much quicker than Hotch had anticipated. Deciding to do his best to make a good impression, he asked if she wanted to dance another one. They stood as the next song came on, but Hotch became distracted as he saw a petite, blonde woman in a dark red dress begin dancing with Spencer Reid. Reid had a date, why was he dancing with JJ? He wondered to himself, trying to focus on Shelly.

"So, do you have any kids?" He asked, easily bringing them back into a conversation as he avidly tried to ignore Jennifer Jareau and how she looked that night. This song did not pass nearly as fast, feeling like an eternity to Hotch who was sorely tempted to go home then. But he knew that Emily would kill him if he was rude to one of her friends, so he kept up his appearance of being pleasant, trying not to let on that the woman he was in love with had come with had come with another man. As the song came to an end, he ushered her back to their table where he found a surprise. The seat that had been left vacant since Morgan left the table, was now filled with a radiant looking JJ, who sat down next to Reid. While Hotch saw that JJ looked lovely, she also had a greenish tint to her. He was interrupted in his observations as he heard the genius address the beauty.

"Jayje, why did your date have to steal my mine?" Reid teased, nudging the blonde just a little. Hotch's ears perked a bit as he heard this.

"Sorry, but how was I supposed to know that Porter and Nicole knew each other?" JJ shot back immediately, Hotch was now listening very closely. "Maybe if you were a better date, she wouldn't have run off with mine!"

"Please, she was abducted. Maybe if you held more interest for him, he would not be kidnapping other guy's dates." Hotch could feel his blood begin to boil underneath his cover of composure. He could not understand how a guy lucky enough to get a date with JJ could have the capacity to not be doting on her.

"To tell you the truth, I think he is more interested in any girl here than he is with me. Go figure." She laughed, "But I saw the way Nicole practically threw herself at him."

Reid's face fell a bit, JJ suddenly back peddled. "Sorry, it was just a joke." She said, giving him a small puppy face. If Aaron Hotchner had been in Reid's place, he would be puddy in JJ's capable hands.

"Don't be sorry, it was funny, and Spencer can handle it--right?" The attractive woman nudged Reid playfully causing him to blush furiously. "If he feels so threatend by Porter he should ask me to dance himself. Prove to me that he's a better dancer." Nicole teased.

"Hey, where did Porter go?" JJ asked Reid's date who sat on Reid's other side.

"He went to go get a drink, he said he would be back in a minute." Nicole reassured her. "I _totally_ didn't expect to see him here."

"He was sure excited to see you." JJ insisted, aware that the entire table (other than Emily and Grant) was following this conversation.

"Yeah, when he showed up I was totally surprised, but I know him from the school where I work." Nicole explained.

"Well, I know that he loves it there." JJ said happily to Reid's date, the smile on her face causing Hotch's heart to feel as though it had been ripped out. "So, who is your date, Hotch?" JJ asked her eyes dancing happily with the lighting and music of the Rossi wedding party.

"This is Shelly, my friend from the gym." Emily suddenly came out of the trance that she had befallen most of the night. "Are you having fun?" Emily suddenly turned to her friend inquisitively.

Her friend smiled shyly, obviously unsure of what to say with Hotch right by her side. "Yeah, he's been a total gentleman." She decided upon, the profilers at the table noticing her calculated response.

Before Hotch, or his date, were asked any more intrusive questions, JJ's face lightened at a figure behind him. "Porter, come sit here by me." She instructed the man behind him to come and sit next to her at the table.

Hotch couldn't bring himself to look at the man whose presence seemed to make JJ so happy, instead choosing to intently study the napkin on his lap. "JJ, they had green punch!" Hotch confused at the odd statement looked up to see the man now sitting next to the woman that frequented his dreams. The man beside her shocked Aaron Hotchner more than any crime scene ever had. He was short and stout, with the same blonde hair and blue eyes that JJ possessed, though with a broad head, flat bridge of his nose, and almond shaped eyes gave away the reason for the odd statement--Down Syndrome.

"Yeah, that's cool. Just don't spill it or we'll never get it out." JJ instructed. "Porter, this is my boss Aaron Hotchner. Hotch, this is my brother, Porter."

"Is he the one you told mom was _gorgeous_?" Porter whispered loudly, JJ's next words betrayed by the uncharacteristic flaming of her cheeks.

"No." She said, holding it out slightly too long, causing Hotch to feel like he was brimming with excitement as the entire table laughed. Changing the subject to quickly get the attention off herself, she asked her brother "Did you have fun dancing?"

"Nicole stepped on my foot." He said, making a face. "She's a bad dancer."

Reid's date laughed happily, "Well, you're just going to have to teach me to be a better dancer next time I'm at the school."

"Only if you promise not to step on my foot." Porter said carefully.

"Ok, I promise." Nicole reassured him, bringing smiles to the members of the table.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Porter asked Nicole who took her turn to blush furiously.

"Erm..." If Nicole was blushing, then Reid had become a fire hydrant at the suggestion.

"Hey, Porter, do you want to dance?" Shelly asked out of nowhere, not caring for the awkward atmosphere that had permeated the table.

"Ok, but don't step on my toes." Porter sighed as Shelly plucked him out of his seat. Silence fell on the table once more as the people seated stared at each other in slight embarrassment.

"JJ, would you like to dance?" Hotch asked boldly, realizing that he may have a second chance afterall.

"Yeah, I'd like that." JJ said with a smile. "I could use a distraction while my little brother plays Casanova and blatently ignores me." He helped her up, out of her chair and led her to the dance floor. He couldn't help but notice that she didn't squirm when he held her hand like she wanted him to let go; She seemed perfectly content.

As they got on the dance floor and found a spot where they would not be bumped by other couples, JJ sighed quietly. "Hotch, I am warning you. I am a terrible dancer." She admitted, embarrassed by her confession.

"Just promise me that you won't step on my toes." Hotch replied, winking at her.

"I make no promises, but I will do my best." JJ laughed, then looked cautiously over at her brother. "I just can't say the same thing for Casanova over there. He is probably marginally better than I am at dancing, but I feel bad for Shelly and Nicole. But at least Nicole didn't have to dance with Spence all night. All he knows how to do is twirl, and that can get pretty dizzying." Hotch chuckled as he saw the nervous genius dancing with his date _exactly_as JJ had described.

"So, you brought your brother?" Hotch asked, then cursed his redundancy.

"Yeah, he lives in Virginia with my parents who moved for the slightly warmer weather and apparently goes to the school that Nicole works at. We planned him coming up this weekend for months, and when he saw the invitation to Dave's wedding on my fridge at home, he got excited that he got to wear a tux and dress up like James Bond. I think he's taking that too literally." JJ laughed as she kept an eye on her brother.

"I think all men like to play James Bond every once in a while." Hotch smiled down at the woman in his arms, cringing only slightly when she stepped directly on his foot with her stilletto heels.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She insisted, hoping that she hadn't hurt him too badly.

"It's fine, I definitely have had worse." Hotch deflected, smiling at her charmingly as the song ended. He escorted her quietly back to the table, joined once again by the others.

"JJ, why were all of those men staring at your butt?" Porter asked, causing all at the table to chuckle slightly.

"Oh, they weren't looking at my butt Port. They were looking at my back. I have a nice back." JJ lied easily.

"But you have that ugly mole on your back, why would they be looking at that?" Porter asked innocently, causing the others to roar with laughter and Emily and her boyfriend to be brought out of their conversation.

"I've seen that mole when you were changing Jayje, it's pretty bad." Emily teased once she had been alerted to the topic of conversation.

As Hotch chuckled with the others at this new revelation, he suddenly made a goal to himself. One day he would see that mole for himself.

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**_AN/I hope you liked it, but if you didn't I'd still like to hear what you think :)_**


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